By Abearica Online Editors · Published
Before sharing a striking claim, identify what it actually says and find the evidence behind it. If you cannot establish enough context to explain it fairly, leave it unshared. You can ask a question about a claim without presenting the claim itself as established fact.
Write down the checkable part
Reduce the message to one sentence you could investigate. Separate a claim about what happened from the writer's reaction to it. Keep the original link, and note any date or location attached to the claim. Do not improve its wording or fill in missing details while you check.
The University of Chicago Library's SIFT guide advises stopping before reading or sharing an article or video.1
Use the pause to decide what kind of evidence would answer your question. For a civic claim, start a source search from Influence and seek the relevant office or document. Do not treat the channel itself as proof of the claim.
Look beyond the page making the claim
Stanford's account of lateral reading describes leaving a document and opening other tabs to check a source's reputation, organizational ties, and claims.2
Try searching for the publishing organization separately from the article. Ask who is responsible for it and what independent accounts say about its work. Resist the temptation to rely only on how the organization describes itself.
For a cross-border story, use International to frame a more specific search: which country, which institution, and which original document? Keep translation questions separate from questions about whether an event occurred.
Trace the strongest detail
The SIFT guide recommends following links to the original source when an article references an expert quotation or research result.1
Choose the detail carrying the argument and follow it. Read the surrounding passage, not just the highlighted line. Compare the original date and scope with the claim you were sent. If you cannot find the original, record that gap instead of assuming it says what the repost suggests.
Return to your normal reading through Abearica Today when you reach a stopping point. If you share the item, include the direct evidence and your remaining uncertainty. If a friend asked you to check it, report what you found and what you could not establish. You do not have to produce a verdict merely because someone expects one.